Mark,
I would like to have seen more co-operation between builders in the smaller rooms. ie; more than once I wanted to hear a set of speakers only to have the builder on the other side of the room turn up their volume knob. Perhaps a 10 minute rule? Sort of like a push-pull amp ....
Ron

This is my biggest problem with the event. With all the equipment there, I am desperate to compare them. My room, Volta, was cooperative but not organized. If we asked someone to turn-down and give us time, they obliged. When there was a lull and we jumped on it; then others started talking too loud. I didn't ask them to keep it down (my bad) since they seemed to be having a good time.

I think an organized trade-off of time would make everyone happy. How about a relay baton that is passed clockwise around the room. Good for 10 or 15 minutes. Within that time, the holder can ask for 10 minutes of silence or library whispers. Hopefully the holder will make a presentation and the whole room will gain an appreciation of the equipment on test.

I think some of the time will needs to be relaxed (non-holders of the baton can "burp" their systems outside of the holder's critical listening) because you need to test that your system is working before getting the baton. I also think that if you're not setup (within a minute or two of getting the baton) then it should be passed on. I foresee the baton moving rapidly to the people that want it. We would not want one to cling to it because they don't want to wait for the next circuit.

Just some thoughts. Any sharing of listening time guidelines would make me feel good about asking for time and for giving time.

Very good comments so far.
Here's a question. By about 6 PM I'm exhausted, but it occurs to me that maybe everyone else isn't..

I'm pretty sure though that most people are ready to go home by about 7 Right? or Not? Especially considering that clean up takes a solid hour at least. Maybe in the evening is when people can relax more though...Of course staying open a couple more hours would cost about $500 more too.. I reduced the admission to $25 this year and we didn't lose money, but it was a bit close. But I think that means more people came...

At the moment I think I'm leaning towards keeping it as it is. Probably 3 presenters is too many? Although this year I think we moved right along on the presentations.

I definably want to make the Big room a lively spot where people hang out to talk. Maybe it while people with equipment move their stuff out of the building. we could have music playing there or live music, BUT the trouble with amplified sound is that we've been told not to have it in the big room because there are adjacent offices. However, I kinda doubt that there's anyone there Sat or Sun nights..

I would also like to see some hotel deals associated with the event.maybe organize one hotel with a special discount rate for the event. maybe a shuttle to and from the event etc.

I would also like to see a setup where in the big room ever person takes the stage and talks about what it is they brought! maybe display a photo of the persons item and then the person could give a brief description of it. would be a nice way to get to know people!

__________________
It's not about what you can BUY...It's about what you can BUILD!

The most likely possibility for a couple of days would be to have clinics or seminars or something on the second day and just rent a couple of rooms. That would mean no amplified sound though- they have a rule against it and the only reason we can do it is because we rent the entire floor.

So we could have Amp Camp, Equipment measuring, things like that...
Any other ideas?

Still, it seems logistically really hard to do 2 days other than as I described above..
Ron is right, there are problems..

How about the swap meet on the day of the event in the big room? Maybe less people would donate stuff? or maybe more stuff donated at the end of the day! Again, think about yourself, do you have stuff to sell? Would you want to sit there by a table all day? Wait! We could just have it for an hour...and I think we all have stuff we might like to get into someones hands. More because we know we won't use it than for gain. But I think stuff for sale at reasonable price would up the quality level. It's different stuff than people give away I think..

or what if the swap meet and amp camp days were the first day and then the 2nd day is the show? that way people could BUILD something in amp camp with stuff they bought at the swap meet and SHOW it on the 2nd day! be proud of what they build! people could also decide if they want to come for both days or just the really big sheeew

__________________
It's not about what you can BUY...It's about what you can BUILD!

yeah that's the best idea..before..if possible. Much easier to get just one room on Saturday The Big Room is real cool and pretty reasonable in cost considering it's about 4 times as big as any other..

We could even have a room devoted to ACA's on the second day and have them hooked up to various speakers. My experience it that the ACA sounds dramatically better with some speakers than others.